Archives

South Carolina Set to Block Implementation of Obamacare

In January, when key provisions of the Affordable Care Act go into effect, South Carolina’s Republican-led state Senate is scheduled to vote on fast-tracked legislation that would prohibit all state agencies, public officials and state employees from implementing the federal health care law.
Republican Gov. Nikki Haley, who has been a vocal opponent of Obamacare, is expected to sign the South Carolina Freedom of Health Care Protection Act (H 3101), which could become a model for other states.

“We will not pursue the type of government-run health exchanges being forced on us by Washington,” Haley said in May. “Despite the rose-colored rhetoric coming out of D.C., these exchanges are nothing more than a way to make the state do the federal government’s bidding in spending massive amounts of taxpayer dollars on insurance subsidies that we can’t afford.”

The bill would forbid state employees from participating in federally mandated insurance exchanges, and reimburse individuals in the form of a state tax deduction for any federal tax penalties they incur for not buying health insurance.